Introduction
CHINA’S CULTURAL CODES
Going to China for the first time can be an intimidating experience, even for those who have studied the language. In fact, going to China for the second, third, or fourth time can also be a challenging experience, especially if you intend to be fully immersed in daily life, get off the beaten path, and experience the real China.
This book is about how to get things done in China. It describes how to act and what to expect in common everyday situations, such as eating at a restaurant or renting an apartment. It deals specifically with Chinese behavioral culture, that is, the codes that people live by and use in their day-today behavior.
It is helpful to understand the rules of behavior in terms of scripts or codes. This notion of scripts has been described as:
…a set of expectations about what will happen next in a well-understood situation. In a sense, many situations in life have the people who participate in them seemingly reading their roles in a kind of play. The waitress reads from the waitress part in the script, and the customer reads the lines of the customer. Life experience means quite often knowing how to act and how others will act in given stereotypical situations. That knowledge is called a script.
Scripts are useful for a variety of reasons. They make clear what is supposed to happen and what various acts on the part of others are supposed to indicate. They make mental processing easier by allowing us to think less, in essence. You don’t have to figure out every time you enter a restaurant how to convince someone to feed you. All you have to know is the restaurant script and your part in that script.… One just has to play one’s part, and events usually transpire the way they are supposed to.*
Scripts can also be thought of as cultural codes. The code tells you what to expect and how to get things done. The notion of a cultural code implies that there are those who understand how to do things (i.e., native speakers), and those who don’t know the code (i.e., non-natives). Decoding cultural practices enables you to understand and act like a native. This then puts natives at ease, which leads to the opportunity to develop and maintain relationships with them.
I tell my students of Chinese that the reason we study Chinese, or any foreign language for that matter, is to develop and maintain relationships with people. Even if you do not study the Chinese language in any depth, living and working in China will necessitate that you develop and maintain relationships with people. In order to do this effectively, you need to behave the way the Chinese expect people to behave. We call this cultural coherence. If the Chinese have to adapt their behavior in order to interact with you, you are not as likely to be able to develop lasting relationships with them. This is similar to the idiom “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” The Chinese have an idiom for this as well, rù xiāng suí sú 入乡 随俗. This means, when you enter the countryside, follow the customs. When you adapt to the way people think, act, and get things done, the Chinese will be comfortable with you. If the Chinese are uncomfortable with your behavior, they are less likely to want to spend time with you. Whether you are living, studying, working, or just traveling to China, understanding these cultural codes gets you into the game, and allows you to participate in the daily lives of Chinese.
A sports analogy may help to highlight how important this idea can be. Let’s say that Western culture’s codes are like the game of baseball, and Chinese codes are like tennis. In both games there are players, balls, instruments to hit the balls, a playing field, boundaries, and so on. There are specific rules to each game to ensure that play is smooth. The players expect their competitors to understand and obey the rules. If someone disregards the rules, there are penalties.
If you as a Western person only understand the rules (codes) of the Western game, and all your experience has been with playing baseball, you will have difficulty adapting to the rules of the Chinese game. If you’ve never before been on a tennis court and don’t know how to play that game, you will have no choice but to resort to playing by the rules that you are familiar with. When the ball is served to you, your first inclination may be to hit the ball as hard as possible, preferably over the fence. From your perspective this would be a good thing (home run!). However, the Chinese would find this strange. If you insisted on hitting the ball as hard as you could each time it was served, and disregarded the rules of tennis, the Chinese would soon get frustrated and eventually would give up, take their ball and racquet and go home. It is doubtful if they would be eager to invite you to play tennis again.
If you show up in China not knowing the rules, so to speak—the cultural codes—you are likely in for trouble, frustration, misunderstanding, and perhaps even hostility.
Several years ago I was in China leading a group of study-abroad students. We had been in the country for only two days. I was in a small restaurant, in a back corner, when several of my students entered. They were pretty good students and had two to three years of Chinese language study under their belts. They did not see me and I observed the following: They entered the restaurant and stood just inside the door, waiting to be greeted and shown to a seat. After several minutes, the students were visibly disturbed as they perceived that they were being ignored by the waitresses. At the same time, the waitresses seemed perplexed. I overheard one say to the other, “What are they doing?” “I don’t know, maybe waiting for someone.” What these students did not understand is that in China you generally find your own table and seats without waiting for anyone to help you. (This is just the beginning of a relatively complex Chinese restaurant script or set of codes.) They assumed that the “rules” of eating in a restaurant were the same as eating at a restaurant in the United States. Even though they had pretty good language skills and knew what to say when ordering, how to ask for the check and so on, they did not know what to do or what to expect in a Chinese restaurant. This was an eye-opening experience for me and was the impetus for this book.
When we go to another country and find out that the restaurant script or code is different there than where we came from, a problem arises. Indeed, we find ourselves trying to figure out how to convince someone to feed us. If you know nothing about the restaurant code in China, you have no choice but to work from your American script. This often leads to frustration and anxiety. Even if you don’t know any Chinese, if you do know what to expect in a given situation, then you are more likely to be able to get things done.
For example, if you know about the different kinds of bank accounts that are available, and that you will need your passport to open an account, you will likely be able to open that account even with minimal language skills.
Or, if you are familiar with the different classes of trains, and the different seating and sleeping options on trains, you will be prepared when buying train tickets. Every communicative situation (i.e., buying a train ticket, ordering a meal, etc.) has a set of expectations that if followed will ensure a successful experience. These expectations can be viewed as a cultural code. If you know the code, you will know what to expect, and be able to get things done smoothly.
Culture is a tricky concept to describe, let alone to fully understand its many connotations. Culture can be conveniently divided into three main categories: achievement culture, informational culture, and behavioral culture.
Achievement culture refers to the great achievements of a civilization. For China, this would include things like Beijing opera, the Great Wall, Tang Dynasty poetry, Confucianism, and so on.
Informational culture is the information that defines a people, or the information that is important to a civilization. This would include things like geography, political systems, philosophical traditions, and so on.
Behavioral culture refers to the daily practices and beliefs of individuals within a society. This would include such seemingly mundane things as eating habits, how to greet people, protocols of transportation, how to buy things, etiquette, how to conduct a transaction at a bank, how emotions are displayed, how to develop and maintain relationships, and other related everyday things.*
Though knowing some achievement and informational culture is certainly valuable, it is behavioral culture that is tied directly to cultural codes and is of the most immediate concern for those traveling to China. And unfortunately, many important cultural behaviors are not dealt with in any systematic way in Chinese language classes. Even Chinese culture classes deal almost exclusively with achievement and informational culture. In order to get things done in China smoothly, it is imperative that you understand Chinese behavioral culture and the codes that will form the context of the situations in which you’ll need to communicate.
This book describes in detail a number of typical situations that anyone spending time in China will encounter. It explains what to expect in these situations and how to get things done. If you understand how things are done in China, you will be able to actually use your hard-learned language skills in useful and practical ways with a minimum of frustration and confusion. And even if you don’t have any Chinese language skills, you will at least know what to expect and how to get things done. This will significantly lower your anxiety levels and give you the confidence needed to navigate Chinese society.
The vast majority of books on living and working in China addresses the needs of expatriates relocating to China to work. In the past these individuals had most things provided for them, including drivers, interpreters, housing, and so on. That kind of situation is becoming increasingly less common. Things are changing as more and more individuals are going to China with language and cultural skills. Companies in China are often providing less for the people they hire, and are expecting individuals to provide their own housing and other needs. Sometimes they’ll hire a foreigner for a position originally intended for a native Chinese person; these positions are sometimes called “foreign national hire” and you may even be paid in yuan.
This is a hands-on guide for anyone planning to spend time in China, whether you speak some Chinese (even a little) or not. It is for those who want to live and work independently among the Chinese, and not live in some secluded expatriate housing compound with Western standards while relying on Chinese colleagues or friends to get things done for them.
Though this is not a language textbook, it does provide valuable vocabulary and common phrases (in both characters and pinyin) applicable to each of the situations described. This will give those of you who are studying Chinese the language context that applies. For those with no Chinese language skills, the vocabulary will expose you to key phrases that will enrich your understanding of how the language is used in Chinese society.
It is not possible to cover every imaginable situation that you may encounter in China, but this book covers those situations that are most immediate and practical. By studying each chapter, you should know enough about interacting with the Chinese that you’ll be able to improvise in other similar situations you may encounter in your travels.
USING THIS BOOK
You will get the most out of this book by following a few strategies. First, read through each chapter based on your particular interest or need. Pay attention to the “Behind the Scenes” sections as these are essential in decoding these cultural practices. If you know some Chinese, take note of the vocabulary items and useful phrases. Practice them until you are confident you can use them in a real communicative situation. Then, go out and accomplish the task. Take notes during and after. What worked well? What did not go so well? Add to the book’s lists any other vocabulary and phrases that came up during your experience. Talk to your tutor or a Chinese friend or colleague and have them give you some feedback and advice.
Perhaps more important than the linguistic aspects are the cultural codes you will understand by studying and applying the principles in this book. Several years ago I knew a student who had truly exceptional linguistic skills. He had near-native pronunciation, a wide vocabulary, and a solid grasp of grammar. He had never been to China before, having learned his Chinese in a Chinese-speaking community in Los Angeles. He didn’t seem to understand the importance of cultural skills. He was placed in an internship in Beijing with a Chinese organization where he was the only foreigner. Within a short time, the majority of his coworkers did not like him. Because his Chinese language skills were so good, when he offended his Chinese colleagues they naturally assumed it was intentional. He was just acting like an American, using American humor, mannerisms, and so on. But the Chinese will naturally assume that if you have good Chinese language skills you will know how to play the game: that you’ll know the cultural codes.
A year or two later, I encountered another student preparing to go to China to do an internship. His Chinese was decent, but not great. But he had an open mind, was very eager to learn, and was a very keen observer of the many cultural things that were going on around him. He was very receptive to the cultural training he received before he left. He thrived in his internship. As a result of his attitude his Chinese language skills took off. He was given significant responsibilities in his work and when it came time to finish the internship he was offered a full-time job.
The difference between these two students, of course, is that the latter student paid attention to Chinese culture codes. When he didn’t know something, he asked about it or watched, learned, and tried things out. The former student didn’t see the importance of cultural codes and simply behaved as an American would in an American company. In fact, the most dangerous person in China is the person with excellent language skills, but little to no cultural skills. These kinds of people routinely offend, irritate, and annoy their Chinese hosts.
As you use this book to prepare for interacting with the Chinese, you will be able to decode those cultural practices and become more and more fluent in the culture of China. Chinese language learners will benefit by being able to apply this learning immediately in necessary communicative situations. I am confident that studying this book and applying its principles will allow you to get deeper into Chinese culture and society than most foreigners are able. As a result of this, your Chinese language skills will improve faster than they ever could in a class or by traditional book study. You will learn by doing. With understanding of the cultural codes this book unveils, you will be able to move around in Chinese society smoothly and confidently.
When I first started traveling to China, there was little information available about contemporary Chinese society. The information in Decoding China is precisely what I wish I had. With this book you will be able to approach your tasks with the confidence that comes with knowing the code.
Living, working, and studying in China is a great and challenging adventure. After spending some time in China, you will likely see the world in a slightly different way than you did before. Don’t be surprised if your whole outlook on life changes.
Throughout the book I provide anecdotes, stories, or experiences that highlight the cultural differences foreigners experience in China. These anecdotes appear in sidebars. They are all true stories, experienced by me, my content adviser, or our students or colleagues.
* Schank, Roger. Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory (New York: Scribner, 1990), pp. 7–8.
* For a more detailed discussion about culture, see pages 12–16 in Christensen, Matthew B. and J. Paul Warnick, Performed Culture: An Approach to East Asian Language Pedagogy (Columbus, OH: Foreign Language Publications, National East Asian Languages Resource Center, The Ohio State University, 2006).